Household appliances in trouble after French fines, Seb and Electrolux suffer
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(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Household appliances are in trouble on the European stock exchanges, after heavy fines were imposed on 12 companies in the sector by the French Competition Authority for price fixing. Seb retreated conspicuously on the Paris Stock Exchange (CAC 40 ) after a fine of EUR 189.5 million, and Electrolux did even worse in Stockholm, being ordered to pay EUR 44.5 million. The fines come after an investigation initiated by the French Authority on the period 2009-2014 and formally opened in October 2023.
In a statement, Seb explains that the fine was imposed 'for having allegedly practised imposed sales prices on its distributors in the period 2008-2013'. On the other hand," the company (which owns, among others, the Moulinex, Rowenta, Krups and Lagostina brands) pointed out, "the Authority ruled out the existence of a horizontal agreement to exchange statistical information through a professional association". The group, in any case, 'refutes categorically the conclusions' of the Antitrust Authority and will appeal to the Paris Court of Appeal.
Electrolux for its part announced that the investigation by the French authorities, which had already been made known to the market, has been concluded and that the fine of EUR 44.5 million is covered by the provisions decided upon for the second quarter of 2023. "The decision follows an agreement reached in 2023" between the company and the Antitrust Authority. In total, the fines add up to EUR 611 million and concern 10 appliance manufacturers and two distributors.
In a statement, the French Competition Authority explained that it had sanctioned twelve vertical price agreements between manufacturers and distributors in the household appliance sector that were implemented between February 2007 and December 2014, "having as their objective to maintain higher sales prices, particularly in the face of the emergence of competing online distributors". The practices adopted by the companies are "particularly serious", the Antitrust Authority adds, explaining that "the manufacturers communicated retail prices to distributors and monitored their application, not hesitating to resort to retaliatory measures (such as delays and production stoppages, introduction of exclusive selling systems) against distributors who refused to comply with the price directives". Such practices "have eliminated intra-market competition, preventing consumers from benefiting from the best prices when purchasing household appliances".
The companies fined are, in addition to Seb and Electrolux, the German Bsh (54 million euros), Candy Hoover (22.75 million), Eberhardt (100 thousand euros), Whirlpoll (as successor to Indesit, 27.75 million) LG (15.5 million), Miele (14.25 million), Smeg (4.8 million), Whirlpool (44.5 million) and distributors Boulanger (84.35 million) and Darty (109 million). The Antitrust Authority points out that 10 of the 12 companies decided "not to contest the charges and have therefore benefited from the settlement procedure. Seb and Boulanger decided instead to contest them'.
